


The Passage of Time

by FrozenMemories



Category: CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
Genre: 20th Anniversary Celebration, Gen, Post canon, Reunions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-06
Updated: 2020-10-06
Packaged: 2021-03-07 16:13:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,650
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26860453
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FrozenMemories/pseuds/FrozenMemories
Summary: The unexpected demise of one of their own brings the former night shift team back together.
Relationships: David Hodges/Nick Stokes, Morgan Brody/Greg Sanders (merely implied)
Comments: 13
Kudos: 9





	The Passage of Time

**Author's Note:**

> Fuck canon. I'm treating logic and continuity the same way the writers of this show do - very liberately and to my own liking.
> 
> Warning: For those who haven't guessed it the character death is Grissom, read at your own discretion.

When he opened the mail and held the card in his hand it shouldn’t have felt like such a gut-punch, considering the phone call he’d received from Catherine the week before.

And granted, the initial news had all but ripped the floor away from beneath his feet. They may not have been too close over the past couple of years, but Gil Grissom had played such a huge part in his life, in both his personal journey and his professional career, that he couldn’t fathom a life, a world without him. The black rimmed card and matching font reading his name and two dates made it all of a sudden a palpable reality.

Leaning against the counter his eyes went over the rest of the short text, his mind trying to catch up with the information.

“Nick?”

He must have stood motionless for longer than expected, judging by the worry in his partner’s voice.

He looked up into David’s blurred face, belatedly realizing how his eyes were brimming with tears. Clearing his throat, he tried to pull himself together.

“The funeral’s on the seventeenth,” he said in a raspy voice.

“I know, Catherine told us two days ago,” David replied, as he stepped closer and plucked the white cardboard from his hands.

Nick nodded solemnly.

“Yeah. Yeah, she did,” he reminded himself, “I guess this just… makes it more real.”

David hummed pensively and then pulled him into a hug.

~

The service was held at St. Ansgar, a place Nick remembered him talking about when he’d buried his mother years ago. In true Catholic fashion the Church was palatial, filling Nick with an instant sense of reverence, even before he’d set foot inside.

The first person he spotted when they pulled into the parking lot was Sara, standing a little lost and looking unfamiliar in a sleek black dress.

She graced him with a sad smile and opened her arms wide to greet him with the embrace of a long lost sister. She’d made promises to come visit in San Diego and they did occasionally find the time for phone calls, but betweeen each leading a Crime Lab respectively and their family lives the last time he’d seen her – well, he barely remembered. Not that this was the time for reproaches.

“It’s good to see you,” he told her, holding on tight.

“You too,” Sara replied over his shoulder, “Just wish it was under different circumstances.”

He nodded and pulled back. By his side David stood stiffly, an air of insecurity around him.

“David,” Sara addressed him warmly, “Good to see you, too.”

Their embrace seemed awkward but Nick knew they were both making an effort – and meant it.

Of the few people gathered around the front court of the old Church building Nick didn’t recognize anyone. It seemed they were the first to arrive.

“How’s the wife?” he asked, referring to Sara’s apparently absent partner of almost two decades. Nick admired how the mere mention of her brought a genuine smile to Sara’s face.

“Busy,” she replied fondly, “She was going to come but she has deadlines to meet. Plus funerals and churches make her uncomfortable.”

Nick smiled grimly – he could absolutely relate.

“I would have liked to see her, though,” he mused regretfully.

“Oh, don’t worry, she’ll join us for drinks later,” Sara offered quickly, “Greg and I talked about meeting at McCarthy’s tonight, you guys are in, right?”

“Speak of the devil,” David intercepted before Nick could confirm that of course they’d be in for drinks.

Greg, along with Henry, approached their little group next.

“Hey boss,” he greeted Sara with a brief hug and then spared a longer one for Nick. “Didn’t expect to see you again so soon,” he quipped, though his voice wasn’t quite cheerful, owed to the circumstances.

Contrary to Sara, Greg had actually managed to squeeze in a number of short trips to California, the last having been just a few months prior.

Once everyone finished their hugs and pleasantries, Nick spotted Catherine coming towards them, a beautiful young woman by her side. He did a double take before he recognized the familiar but notably matured face.

“Lindsey? How long has it been?”

He momentarily lost focus on the occasion that had brought them all back together, overwhelmed with the pleasant feelings reuniting with his friends – no, family – brought. While everybody’s joy was naturally subdued there was still avid small-talk and catching up going on before they started milling into the Church to find seats.

The congregation of mourners wasn’t numerous, but slowly the isles filled with more or less familiar faces. The chatter died down inside the echoing fane, where every other sound instead was amplified. Heels against the stone floor, the creaking of the old wooden benches. A cough or sniffle here and there and the constant rustle of coats and jackets.

And then the familiar clang of a metallic cane hitting the floor in a slow but regular walking pattern. Nick looked up to see Doc Robbins and his wife walk past and take seats among the other guests.

Al looked thinner and walked slower than Nick remembered. But then, none of them had been spared by time, his own hair and beard was gradually more speckled with gray, David’s silver so light it almost appeared white. The only one seemingly unaffected by age was Greg, he mused, even Henry had started to develop lines around his eyes.

He scanned the rows to his left and to his right, anything to avoid the framed black and white portrait of the man they were all here to mourn.

When the organist hit the first notes however, he felt himself unable to focus on anything but. It was as if those eyes had come to life, looking right into his soul from out of the photograph. His resolve crumbled quickly and his eyes grew damp.

Catherine had asked him beforehand if he had felt like saying a few words, since he had been so close to Grissom, but Nick had been relieved to find he wasn’t expected to. He would have only choked up and end up saying nonsense. Despite his job as Lab Director requiring regular public appearances and press conferences, he wasn’t one for big speeches – especially not of a personal matter.

So it was Catherine who bravely stood in front of them all, recounting the role Gil Grissom had played in shaping all of them, and giving words to the tremendous hole he was leaving behind.

To his right he felt David fidgeting and instinctively Nick reached out to cover his cold fingers with his hand. To his left he heard Sara sniffling and placed his other hand on top of hers. A quick glance told him she was also clasping Greg's, which made a spark of warmth flare up in his chest.

~

Overall it was a touching ceremony but Nick was more than relieved when it was all over and he could finally rid himself of the tightly knotted tie around his throat. He’d already loosened it a little but felt it was inappropriate to take it off completely.

For a place like McCarthy’s on the other hand, even with their ties left in the glove department of their car, he felt distinctly overdressed.

Sleeves rolled up and jacket slung over the back of his chair Nick finally felt the tension of the day – or rather of every day since Catherine had first called him – slowly ebbing away. Amber, Sara’s partner, and Morgan had come to join the group, as promised. Morgan, having covered for both Greg and Henry having taking the shift off, was still in her work clothes – tame, but a stark contrast to everybody’s black and dark grays. She'd squeezed herself in between David and Greg, immediately accepting Greg's drink when he offered it to her. Nick registered the gesture with a knowing smile while their Lab Director expertly overlooked it.

As the evening progressed and more drinks were ordered, they dove deeper and deeper into reminiscing in the past, sharing their favorite _bugman_ stories and catching up on their lives. 

A lot had changed for sure, but a part of him felt like he had never left.

“Alright, friends,” Nick stood up from their table and raised his glass. He hadn't planned to but suddenly he was overcome with the need for a little speech after all. 

“I didn’t say anything earlier, but let me just get out a few words while we’re all here together.”

He paused, taking a deep breath and making quick eye-contact with every member of their party.

“I couldn’t describe Grissom or what he meant to me, to all of us, better than Cath already did,” he nodded to Catherine in acknowledgement and she smiled back appreciatively, “But I think it’s safe to say none of us would be the people we are today if we hadn’t met him. I know I wouldn’t. He’s been a mentor and a friend and I-,” he swallowed down a sob before speaking again, “I’m gonna miss him.”

He felt the subtle support of David’s hand on his side.

“As for you guys,” he continued, wiping at his eyes and taking another sweeping gaze around their table, “I’m so glad to see all of your faces. We don’t get to tell each other enough, but y’all are my family and I love you.”

He was just about to sit back down when he remembered a promise he'd made the previous day before leaving work.

“One more thing, Finn says hello to everyone, told me to give each of you a hug, so come collect your Finlay-hug whenever you feel like it. I’ll be here for a while.” With that he raised his glass again, a chorus of soft chuckles resounding around the large booth.

It sure felt good to be back home.


End file.
